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Bill Haley and The Comets, The Platters, LaVern Baker, Big Joe Turner, Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys Australian Tour 1957
This was the very first rock n roll tour of Australia and proved to be a huge success which paved the way for many rock n roll tours to follow. Lee Gordon was an American who was already making an impact in Australia with the Big Show as he had been bringing out people like Frank Sinatra, Johnny Ray, Nat King Cole, Betty Hutton, Guy Mitchell, Louis Armstrong and many others. Bill Haley had been on the music scene since 1953 with Crazy Man Crazy which was the first rock n roll record to hit the charts and had been performing since the 1940's with groups like the Down Homers and the Saddlemen which by 1953 they became the Comets and also recorded the song that would become an rock n roll classic "Rock Around the Clock" on April 12th 1954 which was only an B side to 13 Women but it was not until 1955 as an result of a movie called The Blackboard Jungle that starred Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern, Sidney Potier and Vic Morrow that Rock Around The Clock was in the film and it went to number 1 in the USA on July 9th 1955 where it stayed there for 8 weeks and it was also number 1 in the UK and it was at this point that Bill haley and the comets had already hits like Shake Rattle and Roll, mambo ROck, Dim Dim the Lights, Birth Of the Boogie as well as throughout 1955 and 1956 with See you Later Alligator, Don't Knock the Rock, Rip It Up,Razzle Dazzle and others. The Platters were formed in 1953 in Los Angeles and had been having success since late 1955 with Only You as well as having hits throughout 1956 with The Great Pretender, My Prayer, You've Got the MAgic Touch, One In A Million and You'll Never Know. Big Joe Turner did the original version of Shake Rattle and Roll in April 1954 and had other songs like Flip Flop Fly, Hide and Seek, Well All Right, Morning Noon and Night and The Chicken and The Hawk. LaVern Baker who had been on the scene since 1955 with hits like Tweedle Dee, Still, Jim Dandy and I Can't Love You Enough and had been recording for National, Okeh and Atlantic where she had the success in the 50's and would last into the early 60's and later on Brunswick. Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys were formed in 1952 which they were the first white groups to play R&B hits of the day and played in the Mid West before getting an booking @ the Lands Hotel in Las Vegas. They recorded for the Teen label which they did an version of Hound Dog in 1955 and Elvis presley had seen them performing the song in Las Vegas which he was impressed and had the bigger hit himself. They recorded for mercury label in 1956 and an big hit in the UK(no 4) with Giddy Up A Ding Dong. Lee Gordon had spent an enormous amount of money putting the rock n roll show together and at that time promoters wanted Bill Haley but Gordon had out bid them all. The tour began in Newcastle on Janaury 8th which was selected as the venue for opening night which his time was spot on and so was his choice of location and the tickets went on sale @ 9am which by 10.30am tickets for both shows and the success of the show would guarantee success everywhere else which it did. Lee Gordon hoped he could rely on sellouts in Sydney @ the Stadium, Melbourne @ West Melbourne Stadium and expected to provide an good result in Brisbane which it did. Adelaide was going to be an problem as the Centennial Hall and the Memorial Drive Tennis Courts were not avaliable and Alan Heffernan who worked for Lee Gordon was forced to book the old Tivoli Theatre for an week which it an 2,000 seat and despite the kids' great reaction there was no profit virtually from this section of the tour. Freddie Bell and the BellBoys opened the show with Big Joe Turner, LaVern Baker, the Platters and Bill Haley and the Comets closing the show which the venues in the cities were packed and the tour was an huge success as well as playing to more than 300,000 fans.